An Inuyasha Valentine's Day
by Mikki Onigiri
Summary: A little snapshot of Valentine's Day in the Sengoku Jidai.


A/N: Hey! This is Mikki Onigiri!! Sorry I haven't updated on any of my stories! I have been in the middle of the craziest months! But I decided that since Valentine's Day is my second favorite 'holiday' AND it's my best friend's birthday, I would write a little something (a very short little something) for it. Enjoy! PS. Sorry if the characters are a little out of character.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha isn't mine (sob); I just borrow him for my evil diabolical (is that how you spell that?) plans bwahahaha

"Ba-re-n-tai-n-su-de-i?" Inuyasha tilted his head in confusion as he tried to work his tongue around the foreign sounds he was reading from the little book Kagome used as a calendar. Kagome made a grab for her calendar, which had somehow fallen into the hanyou's ever curious hands. Inuyasha skillfully held the little booklet above his head while continuing to sound out the characters more fluently. With an exasperated sigh, Kagome sat back up and tried to warm herself by scooting closer to the fire.

"Is this another 'Western' tradition from your time, Kagome-sama?" Next to Inuyasha, Miroku took the calendar from Inuyasha, who had given up, and studied the small print in the box for the 14th day of the second month.

Kagome opened her mouth to respond when Shippou jumped on her lap excitedly.

"Is there pocky involved? Do I get pocky, Kagome!? Am I included in Ba-re-n-ta-i-n-su-de-i?" Shippous wide and youthful eyes shined with childish excitement. Kagome laughed and hugged the little bundle of energy to her body.

"Oh, of course you are included! Everyone is included in Valentine's Day!" Kagome lost her mother role for a moment and squealed and squished the kitsune to her chest as his cuteness overwhelmed her.

"Everyone's involved on this day?" Sango gave her friend and questioning look as she held the little booklet in her hand that she had taken from the monk beside her. She took in the little hearts drawn around the little characters and had to wander exactly _what_ this day represented. Something in the corner of her eye made Sango forget momentarily about the mysterious day. After identifying it to be a hand making it's way slowly but surely towards her backside, Sango's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"One step closer, monk, and we won't have anymore wandering hands because there won't _be_ anymore hands," Sango growled under her breath.

"You misunderstand me, my love! I simply saw a spider that was to close to my sweet Sango! I was only-."

"Save it, monk." Sango's wary voice cut off his lame defense and his shoulders sagged in defeat (mainly because he was unable to catch a caress of his angel).

Kagome watched to interaction and sighed. She realized that maybe explaining that Valentine's Day was a day to show your love for some significant other was silly and pointless. Kagome also realized that her hope of either Miroku or Sango confessing their love was highly unlikely if the previous events didn't prove anything and it wasn't like she was about to fess up any time soon. What was the point?

She gave Inuyasha an accusing look for ever bringing it up which he simply shrugged in response to. She placed the little kitsune down and went to grab her calendar back. When she sat back down, she felt the tension in the air and felt like sitting the dog-boy for creating it in the first place. Shippou, as always, seemed oblivious to the butter-thick tension and decided to speak up.

"So…What _is_ it?" He lifted his questioning gaze to his adoptive mother.

"Oh, it's not important. It's just a silly tradition that-."

"Like that 'ku-ri-su-ma-su' you were going on about not too long ago?" Inuyasha snorted from his position on a rock showing his obvious distaste in the other foreign word.

Kagome's smile instantly fell and an annoyed expression replaced it. She whirled around and placed her two feet on the ground and pointed her glare at Inuyasha.

"That's completely different! Christmas is a special day-."

"Oh, it's special alright."

"Where family get together and share a happy warm-filled winter day showing their appreciation for one another!"

"Watch out, you might make me throw up with all that disgustingly sappy shit," Inuyasha raised a hand in front of himself and pretended to keel over and throw up.

"Inuyasha, you immature jerk!" Kagome smacked the offending hand away from her face and knocked the boy over the head.

"What did you do _that_ for, wench? You were making me sick! What do you expect me to do? Sit there with a stupid smile on my face and nod as you go off on your 'love, love, love, happiness' rants?"

"Ooooh- you insensitive idiot! I can't believe you!"

"Well at least I ain't all 'I love the world! A jewel shard for all!' That's just shameful!" Inuyasha's voice raised three octaves higher, clearly mocking the now fuming miko.

"I do _not_ sound like that! At least I have a heart!"

"I have a heart, it's just stronger and not goo like yours!"

"Insensitive jerk!"

"Sappy wench!"

"Dog-boy!"

'_Ah, they reduced quickly down to the daily insults_,' Miroku thought with a tired sigh.

"Bitch!"

"Sit!"

"Mother fu-!!!" Inuyasha's curse was muffled beyond comprehension as his body was pulled into the dirt as a result of the insanely maddened Kagome.

"I simply don't understand how he didn't see it coming. It's practically _ritual_ now," Miroku commented as he reached for Kagome's bag to take out a bag of 'ninja food.'

"Just shows how dense Inuyasha can be, I guess," Sango watched with indifference as Inuyasha tried to fight the spell for a good few seconds before giving in and waiting rather impatiently for it to wear off. By then of course, Kagome would have none of his insults and simply sat the stupid boy again without batting an eyelash.

000

"Kagome-chan?" Kagome looked up from her position in the hot spring at the sound of the exterminator calling her name. She was glad that her friend would be joining her. She really did enjoy her company.

'_Especially when a certain baka sticks his stupid foot in his mouth again,' _a voice reminded Kagome from the back or her mind and Kagome sighed as she wearily agreed. For once, she wished he could just shut up and _not_ make her mad.

"Come in quickly before you freeze," Kagome laughed lightly as Sango all but whipped off the many layers of clothing and nearly slipped in the process. The graceful and efficient Sango she knew when fighting would never 'slip' and Kagome felt relaxed knowing that the two were in sister/normal mode (as in not hunting and fighting demons mode).

Sango lowered herself into the steaming water quicker than usually due to the snow that nearly burned her naked skin it was so cold. A sigh of content escaped her slightly parted lips as she slipped deeper into the soothing spell of the hot liquid. The two shared a comfortable silence as they let the heat seep into the pores of their skin and relaxed their sore muscles.

Sango was the first to break the silence.

"I would like to know more about this day you were talking about."

Sango smiled when she saw Kagome's face brighten at the thought of _someone_ being interested in her traditions. When one thought about it, Kagome had basically sacrificed her whole life in her time to live and fight in this completely different and life-threatening time. Sango thought irritably about how horribly Inuyasha treated Kagome's traditions and couldn't help but feel bad for her friend who was simply trying to introduce her own traditions to her friends in an attempt to ease the homesickness Kagome probably felt everyday.

"Well, it's actually quite stupid and in some sense, Inuyasha holds every right to bash it…" Kagome trailed off as she drew circles in the water appearing to have second thoughts about the whole explaining thing. Sango waited patiently for her friend to continue. But when she saw that Kagome was rapt in the water, Sango cleared her throat gently to urge Kagome. Kagome looked up and smiled uneasily seeing no way out of it.

"Valentine's Day is a day when… people who care about each other or _might_ care about one another or are simple _friends_ show their appreciation for one another and give smalls gifts like chocolates or flowers."

A blush that was neither from the bitter cold of February nor from the heat of the natural hot springs spread across Kagome's face as she returned her attention to the water. Sango seemed to be taking it all in and so Kagome gave her a few seconds to digest the information.

"I think it's…'cute,'" Sango tried the foreign word that Kagome had used so often. She couldn't think of any other name for the peculiar occasion.

"I know, it was stupid," Kagome tried to laugh it off and sank deeper into the water to seek comfort for the awkward moment she had to endure. Sango seemed to be musing over the whole idea as she continued to stare with a slight crease of the brows at some rock behind Kagome. And so, when Sango burst out laughing, Kagome jumped three feet out of the water in surprise.

"Wh-what's so funny!?" Kagome gawked at the woman across from her who didn't seem to be calming down at all. Kagome had never heard such an outright sound other than in fighting come from her friend's mouth. It was indeed a new, somewhat disturbing and in the current situation, a little annoying experience. Finally, after another few minutes of calming down, Sango tried to catch her breath and dry her tears. By then, Kagome was a little agitated.

"It's not _that _stupid. I mean, I know I said-." Kagome fought the impulse to knock Sango over the head when she heard Sango giggle a little.

"Oh, Kagome-chan! It's not that! I didn't mean to make you angry. I- I don't really know what came over me. I pictured- Nevermind, it's not important. It's just…cute…" Sango finished lamely and laughed a little weakly as she tried to find the right words. Kagome sighed and leaned against the warmed rock with a deflated look.

"No, it's ok. I actually completely forgot about it until Inuyasha brought it up. It's nothing important or anything." Kagome lied. She smiled brightly at Sango and waved it off with her hand.

"I don't think it's stupid. It's another tradition from Kagome-chan's time that I get to learn about. Your time is certainly full of them," Sango smiled back.

The two girls sat there in silence as the steam rose above their head, mixing with the clouds of breath into the winter night. Kagome lifted her head and smiled pleasantly when she saw not a cloud in sight and the stars tinkling merrily back at her.

"I wish the sky was this clear back at home."

Sango looked up as well and then looked puzzled, "Why would it not be clear? Are there clouds all the time in Kagome-chan's time?"

Kagome couldn't help but laugh a little, "Something like that."

000

"It seems to be harmless talk between girls." Miroku shrugged carelessly and shifted into a more comfortable position on the tree branch. He looked down rather nervously and had to wonder if sitting this high up on a relatively small branch had been a well thought out idea after all.

"We shouldn't be here. Kagome's gonna be even _madder_ at you." Shippou chided Inuyasha as if he were the eldest of the three. He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head disapprovingly.

"Shuddup runt." Inuyasha grumbled and hit said 'runt' on the head for emphasis.

"I'm gonna tell Kagome you hit me!" The poor kitsune didn't seem to understand the word shuddup. He let out a pitiful whine when Inuyasha decided to double the punishment.

"Remind me why we brought the runt."

"Because Kagome would sit you to the fiery pits hell is she were to find out you left him by himself in the middle of a forest at night," Miroku answered without hesitation as if he had been expecting such a question to arise during their little 'journey.'

"Right…." Inuyasha grumbled some more under his breath as he glared at the little figure of the cursed kit.

"They seem to be getting out now," Miroku relayed to his two companions. They would have to get down and get to the site before the girls did.

"Hey, Inuyasha…" Shippou looked at the base of the branch with somewhat concerned eyes.

_Crack_

Inuyasha let out a string of curses when the branch lurched under the weight of the three males. Inuyasha did the first thing that came to his mind to alleviate the weight on the branch and sent to kit flying before grabbing the monk and darting from tree to tree back to the campsite. Inuyasha reasoned that the kit would make it to the ground safely because of his light weight. Besides, he needed both hands to carry the monk.

000

"I'm not sure if I should be worried or happy that we weren't disturbed for our _entire_ bath." Kagome laughed in joke and hugged her winter coat tighter around her damp body for warmth after leaving the heat of the hot spring. She moved a little faster to catch up with the quick pace of her friend.

"Mmhmm…." Sango eyed the surrounding forest dubiously as they continued their trek to the campsite.

"What is that?" Kagome looked ahead to where a relatively large branch was falling through the branches of a nearby tree..

"The hell?" Sango looked up and nearly did a double take when she saw a flash of red and purple up in the tall branches, fleeing from the scene of the crime. _I knew it! Those perverted bastards!_

"Kagomeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" A high pitched squeal was heard overhead and Kagome looked up just in time to see her little kit falling in mid air at least ten feet ahead of her.

"Oh my god, Shippou-chan!" Kagome raced to catch him. The little fur ball landed with a plop in his mother's arms and looked on the verge of tears from the horrifying experience.

"Kagome!! The whole branch broke and-and Inuyasha and Miroku raced off before me and Inuyasha left me to-to die!" And once confession was over, the wailing started.

Sango looked at the branch that had fallen a few feet from her and gave it a good kick before straightening her back and marching off in the direction of the campsite where all hell would be brought onto the two males' heads. Kagome hugged the wailing kit to her chest in comforting act and followed her friend who was stomping off into the forest.

"Sango-chan!" Sango stopped when she heard Kagome run to catch up with her.

"Let's get'em." The three of them made their way to their doomed victims.

000

"That little bastard! He fuckin' gave us away! I knew we shouldn't have brought him! We would've been fucking back before the wench anyways!" Inuyasha kicked a rock into the surrounding forest with as much force as he could muster while in sitting position.

"It was worth it though. Everytime it's worth it," Miroku whistled to himself and laid leisurely against the log and closed his eyes, anticipating what his love would do to him in punishment for peeping this time. Hopefully she wouldn't be mad enough to knock him out on the first hit. Hmm…but that was possibly expecting too much. He would have to settle for a major headache in the name of love. He smiled to himself and blew out a breath of steam pretending to smoke.

"You're pathetic." Inuyasha spat into the fire place and continued to glare at the undulating flames.

"You seemed a little more than willing to join me, Inuyasha."

"Keh! To make sure you did nothing stupid."

"Like pushing Shippou out of the tree?" Miroku raised an eyebrow at the hanyou.

"Keh. He was asking for it."

"I thought it was odd how the tree branch hit the ground _after_ Shippou-chan," Kagome's dangerously calm voice commented as the two women with Shippou tucked safely in Kagome's arms emerged from the forest. Inuyasha's back straightened as shivers ran up and down his spine at the venom that was practically dripping from each syllable coming from Kagome's mouth.

'_Oh shit….' _

"Sango, my sweet! You have returned!" Miroku got up with his charming smile and walked towards the enraged demon slayer.

"Take one step closer and I swear monk…" Sango's eyes flashed dangerously and Miroku's smile wavered ever so slightly.

"Now, Sango-." But poor Miroku never got to finish his defense statement. He lay sprawled on the floor, unconscious with a cooling off demon exterminator standing over him.

"Of _all _the things Inuyasha…How could you do that to Shippou-chan?" Kagome was close to exploding and Inuyasha _knew_ just _knew_ that he was going to hate the wretched word that was going to come out of her mouth over and over and over and over again. He could already hear his back breaking. And of course, the only thing our ingenious hanyou could say was-

"Keh."

And so she exploded…

"Inuyasha, you good for nothing, inconsiderate idiot!! Si-!" Before the last of the horrible word could be uttered from her mouth though, Inuyashas clawed hand smothered it. Kagome's eyes blazed with a renewed anger and Inuyasha felt her human dulled teeth close on his middle and index finger. He cursed and freed the enraged miko of his hand. By that time, Shippou had made it safely to his and Kagome's sleeping bag and was curled up with Kirara and trying his best to stay out of his mother's way.

Kagome let out a cry of pure annoyance and looked straight into the hanyou's golden eyes which looked somewhat worried at this point.

"I…_hate_ you." Inuyasha felt his heart stop at the softly but vehemently uttered words. His deep amber eyes widened as he continued to stare at the girl in front of him.

"I _HATE_ you! You never think of anything but yourself and you always ruin _everything_! You ruined my Christmas with my family because you wanted to follow a rumor of a shard, you wouldn't even let me return afterwards to celebrate New Years with my family which is turns out is _extremely _important to me and my family! And Kami forbid I wanted to go back home to celebrate Souta's Shichi Go San and now this! Inuyasha, you have _never_ shown any interest in my time at all except for that cursed ramen and TV! Well guess what? I don't care if you don't like my time; but what I _do_ care about is how you have absolutely no respect for my culture and for me and for other people around you! Japan is completely different from now and you need to learn that I come from a different time and I have traditions that are important to me. And there are _other_ lives other than yours that are living. And if you can't understand that than…than I can't be here… anymore…" Kagome seemed to lose the steam she had been running off of as her energy source. She took a deep breath and blew it out and her whole body seemed to shrink. Her face showed creases that usually didn't show till later ages and she looked like she had aged ten years. She looked tired.

By then Sango was with Miroku on the other side of the fire and the two of them were looking with worried eyes at the episode unfolding between their two friends. Shippou was cowering behind Kirara sniffling away at the anger his mother was throwing at Inuyasha.

An uncomfortable silence fell upon the whole group.

Inuyasha tried to find words to say but his mind was still trying to figure out what had just happened.

'_You block-head! She's telling you that she's leaving! Oh and if it helps, she hates you too._'

"Kagome-."

"Don't Inuyasha. I'm tired…." Kagome walked past him with her eyes trained on the floor knowing that the look he was pulling would make her regret what she said and right then, she didn't want to.

She almost screamed when Inuyasha grabbed her arm and whirled her around.

"What did you say?" Kagome's eyes widened when she saw that Inuyasha's eyes were nearly overflowing with emotions of sorrow, regret, pain, and anger. Those beautiful golden orbs of his that could melt the ice around her heart in an instant.

"I- I…Were you _not _hearing what I was saying to you?" Kagome's words caught some grounding after a few stutters and she straightened her back, not daring to show that she was close to saying how sorry she was. She was not going to back down no matter what.

That's why she nearly fell over in shock when Inuyasha placed both of his hands on her shoulders with his eyes averted from her. With both ears plastered to his mane of silver, he looked like a little kicked puppy; and it nearly broke her heart. She tried to harden her heart to him to get her point understood but it was becoming more difficult to do so. She was so tired. She didn't want to fight him anymore.

"You…hate me?" Kagome had to strain to hear the whispered whimper that came from the almighty macho hanyou and felt her will to hold out in this battle dwindling into a mere flicker of what was once a blazing flame.

Kagome's shoulders slumped in defeat at how pathetic her inu hanyou looked. She turned her head away from him and kept silent trying to think of what to do next with the wounded puppy.

'_That's all he heard…What an idiot. I bet his ears turned off the minute she said that and heard absolutely nothing else!_' Sango fumed from where she was sitting.

"Sango, you're crushing the bones in my hand. You mustn't take out you anger on me; Inuyasha can't help it if he does the things he does," Miroku pointed out bluntly. A fierce blush spread across Sango's face and she all but threw the hand back at its owner after nodding her head in agreement.

"You guys listening in on our conversations _again_?" Inuyasha seemed to be momentarily out of his trance in order to yell at the rest of the group. The great Inuyasha seemed always ready to pick a fight. Kagome felt her flame ignite again and her anger soared.

"If you wanted privacy, you should've gone somewhere else. It's not like you attempted to keep quiet or anything," Miroku told Inuyasha calmly.

"Keh!" Inuyasha scooped then enraged Kagome into his arms and jumped into the high branches of a tree overlooking the camp.

"Inuyasha! Let me down this instant! Inuyasha!" Kagome screeched in protest as she was placed on the branch and nearly threw herself off balance in the process.

"Wench, do you have a death wish!" Inuyasha steadied her as she pitched forward.

"If you didn't put me in this tree we wouldn't have this problem now would we? I seem to recall you throwing Shippou-chan out of a tree. How do I know you wouldn't do the same to me?" Kagome's narrowed her eyes as she dared him to lie to her.

"Keh, I wouldn't let you," was Inuyasha's simple reply. Kagome sighed and leaned against the trunk.

"So you would never let me fall out a tree… but you would keep me away from my own family?" Kagome asked. Her hair fell in front of her face as she tried to cover her overflowing eyes. She was so tired. She couldn't fight even her own emotions any more.

"I let you see your family. Don't be ridiculous." Inuyasha seemed to be out of his 'kicked puppy' state.

For some reason, that seemed to be the catalyst to the flow of words and tears that came from the exhausted miko.

"Inuyasha, I have a _time_ _limit_ when it comes to seeing my family! Do- do you not understand how hard it is for my mother to think that I find chasing jewel shards more important than celebrating Christmas, New Years _and_ celebrating Souta's birthday with them? They're my _family_ Inuyasha. I-I miss them! I may not need to see them everyday but every few _weeks_? I love everyone here just as much, don't mistake that but my mother worries so much about me and I don't want her to. I want my family in my time to be happy and I want to share every special occasion and every important moment with them. What if I miss something, Inuyasha? What if I were to go home and find out someone's in the hospital? What if Souta loses his tooth and I'm not there? I went home and I found out that Souta was being bullied at school. As his older sister, it's my responsibility to help him. But I'm never there! I'm never there to help him! And I don't know why he doesn't hate me for that! What if another demon attacked my family!? I won't be there to protect them!" By this time, tears were falling in sequence like rain drops that race after one another down a window.

Inuyasha was silent the entire time. It was so uncharacteristic of him and it made Kagome feel more miserable than she already felt. What was she doing in the stupid tree in the dead of winter with a sulking hanyou who wouldn't even listen to her? It was the _second_ time that night she had poured everything she had pent up since they had started traveling; regarding her family at least.

"If you're not going to say anything, I'm leaving." And when she was once again answered by silence, Kagome looked down, braced herself physically, and turned her body so that she could try and climb down; all the while trying to swallow the tears that were clogging her throat and preventing her from breathing properly. Her hands shook but she reasoned it was from the bitter cold surrounding her without the protection of the forest. _Not_ from the stupid, inconsiderate, insensitive jerk who won't listen to her and who practically _lives_ to make her miserable.

But before her foot could reach the branch bellow, Kagome was hauled up by her two arms and her body was enveloped in Inuyasha's. Kagome's mind was spinning, trying to comprehend what was happening and she tried in vain to calm her maddened heart. Inuyasha was nearly crushing her lungs in a death grip of a hug and it took her a while to speak with a calm voice.

"I-Inuyasha?" She couldn't believe she had just stuttered! She was supposed to be leaving the idiot for- for-

"I'm sorry."

Kagome's eyes widened, staring openly at his red clad chest (He refused to wear 'pathetic human' coats). Bouts of steam surrounded her as her lungs demanded more air. She looked up and found herself looking at the hanyou's chin. It was quivering.

"I'm s-sorry, Kagome." One drop. Two drops.

Two cold and wet drops fell onto her right and her left cheek. Kagome looked past his chin to see that it was still as clear of a sky as it was only an hour ago in the springs.

'_Inuyasha_…' Kagome's eyes softened.

"Keh, so don't say such stupid things like never returning cause…I'd bring you right back!"

Knowing Inuyasha was not one for words let alone apologies, Kagome let that one slide and simple focused on his words before his 'cover-up'. Slowly, Kagome wrapped her arms around him and let her hands clutch the back of the haori. She buried her head in his chest and nodded slowly. Inuyasha's arms tightened around her and together, they stayed in the tree like that.

In the midst of the moment, a sudden thought occurred to Kagome and she leaned away and pulled Inuyasha's right hand in front of her face. In the dark, she could still make out his fingers. Her eyes seemed to be searching for something. Inuyasha closed his hand in reflex when her fingers brushed over his calloused ones.

"I'm sorry for biting your fingers…I didn't hurt you did I?" Kagome pried open Inuyasha's hand and winced when she saw dark indents where her teeth had chomped down on his two fingers. Inuyasha jerked his hand from her hold and wrapped it back around her shoulders.

"Keh, you can't hurt me, wench." Kagome smiled and leaned her head into the crook of his neck. She enjoyed the silent night as she lay there safely tucked in his arms and wound her arms again around Inuyasha.

"Ha-pi-ba-re-n-ta-i-n-su-de-i, Kagome."

Kagome didn't know whether she should laugh or cry at that moment and chose instead to tighten her arms around Inuyasha and silently thanked the gods above for gracing her with such an idiot who was the sweetest when the time called for it (more like begged for it, but that's besides the point).

"Happy Valentine's Day, Inuyasha."

Kagome looked up and without worrying about his reaction, leaned up to place a quick but sweet kiss on her hanyou's lips.

In the dark, Kagome couldn't see the fierce blush that stained Inuyasha's cheeks. He all but crushed her to his chest as Kagome snuggled deep in the folds of his haori for heat and comfort from the chilly winter air. Kagome smiled to herself as she failed to think of a more perfect ending to the worst Valentine's Day.

"Keh."

000

"Do you think they're still arguing or do you think they've already reached the make up sex part?" Miroku joked as he leaned against a tree.

"You perverted monk and all you horrible thoughts!" Sango scolded as she climbed into one of Kagome's extra sleeping bags making sure there was some distance from the lecherous monk. Once she was safely 'zipped up' as Kagome put it, Sango turned her body to face the monk to throw something at him and was disgusted to see that he had his stupid perverted grin on his all but angelic face. Picking up a nearby log to feed the fire, Sango chucked it at Miroku's head. Miroku easily dodged it and chuckled low in his throat at the animosity exhibited by his love.

"Now, now Sango, my sweet, no need to get violent. It doesn't suit that beautiful face of yours." Miroku flashed his award-winning smile and for a second Sango lost her steam as she melted on the inside. God, she loved him all the more when he smiled at her like that.

"I don't know why I put up with you," Sango huffed as she flopped on her back and pretended to ignore him and looked up at the sky that Kagome had been admiring only a little while before.

Sango let out a small shriek of surprise when her vision of the bright stars was replaced by the very face she was picturing in the sky. His eyes held a depth of wisdom and secrets to them that captivated Sango and she couldn't help but get lost in his bottomless violet orbs.

"It's simple really, Sango."

"Yes?" Sango lamely answered. She couldn't even remember whether he was asking her something she was so absorbed in his mesmerizing eyes.

"It's because you love me."

"Uh-huh." Sango replied sluggishly as his face came nearer to hers and she became drunk off the smell of his river-washed robes layered with the scent of the trees and the crisp winter air with a spice of the monk she loved underlying it all. It was all so overwhelming, she struggled to stay conscious.

"And I love you."

Before Sango could even begin to comprehend what the monk had just said with her sloth moving mind, she felt a soft but firm pressure on her lips and on instinct returned the pressure. Bolts of electricity shot through Sango's every being and she was instantly aware of all her senses and they were all centered on the monk kissing her.

They stayed that way for a few heavenly moments before the need for oxygen overcame them and they broke apart. Miroku started to move away when, as if a reflex, Sango's hand shot out and grabbed Miroku's winter bitten fingers. He looked back at her with eyes brightened by bliss and Sango smiled.

"Good night, Miroku."

Miroku leaned in for a good night kiss and answered, "I believe it's 'Happi Barentainsudei,' Sango."

Sango laughed lightly as sleep began to overwhelm her and she laid back into the warm depths of her sleeping bag and within minutes drifted off to a sleep full of dreams and the soft jingling of painted clay beads.

A/N: Phew! That took much longer than I had anticipated! Well, I followed what Ophilia LeNoir told me. I think I might've overdone it but I thought it could be extended as well and just let my fingers do their magic. Thanks for the reviews! Also, I am quite aware that I made Kagome resemble a woman in permanent PMS mode. I _did_ have to squish everything that happened into one day after all….I just realized this is basically like a soap opera….I watch too many of those…hehe

Oh and PS. Shippou got his pocky the next day :) (In case anyone was worried Shippou didn't get anything for Valentine's day) and he was Kirara's Valentine's :D. Also, wouldn't it be cute to do a SesshyRin Valentine's day? Not like an _I love you _Valentine's Day, but just a little cute one-shot to show the adorable relationship between the great stoic demon lord and the flowery innocent Rin? Let me know if you guys would like that!

The Shichi Go San or 7-5-3 Festival is one of the uniquely Japanese festivals. Boys who are 3 and 5 years old, and girls who are 3 and 7 are taken to a shinto shrine, often in their first kimono, and the parents pray for their continuing good health and prosperity. The numbers, especially 3 and 7, are lucky numbers in Japan, and until the 20th century Japan was a thoroughly feudal nation with a higher childhood mortality rate. Since bacterial pathology was then unknown to them they often blamed death on evil spirits, and when the kids became 3, 5, and 7 years old they thanked the gods for their children's good health. A sweet candy called chitose-ame is also often bought for them, in a bag with cranes and turtles, 2 more symbols of long life. Other gifts are also given to them, as you can see some samples like the Japanese animation cat Doraemon.


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